1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to polymeric fibers having tissue reactive members and methods of bonding such polymeric fibers to biological tissues.
2. Related Art
Techniques for repairing damaged or diseased tissue are widespread in medicine. Wound closure devices such as sutures, staples and other repair devices such as mesh or patch reinforcements are frequently used for repair. For example, in the case of hernias, techniques involving the use of a mesh or patch to reinforce the abdominal wall are being used. The mesh or patch can generally be held in place by suturing or stapling to the surrounding tissue. Unfortunately, the use of such sutures or staples may increase the patient's discomfort and, in certain instances, there may be a risk of weakening thin or delicate tissue when the sutures or staples are knotted or deformed.
Click chemistry is a popular term for reliable reactions that make it possible for certain chemical building blocks to “click” together and form an irreversible linkage. See, e.g., U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0222427. Since its recent introduction, click chemistry has been used for ligation in biological and medical technology. In the case of azide-alkyne click chemistry, the reactions may be catalyzed or uncatalyzed. For example, copper-free click chemistry was recently developed by Bertozzi and colleagues using difluorinated cyclooctyne or DIFO, that reacts with azides rapidly at physiological temperatures without the need for a toxic catalyst. See, e.g., Baskin et al., Copper Free Click Chemistry for Dynamic In Vivo Imaging, PNAS, vol. 104, no. 43, 16793-16797 (Oct. 23, 2007). The critical reagent, a substituted cyclooctyne, possesses ring strain and electron-withdrawing fluorine substituents that together promote a [3+2] dipolar cycloaddition with azides. See also, U.S. Pub. No. 2006/0110782 and Codelli et al., Second Generation Difluorinated Cyclooctynes for Copper-Free Click Chemistry, J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 130, no. 34, 11486-11493 (2008). Another suitable cyclooctyne is 6,7-dimethoxyazacyclooct-4-yne (DIMAC). See, Sletton and Bertozzi, A hydrophilic azacyclooctyne for Cu-free click chemistry, Org. Lett. (2008) 10 (14), 3097-3099. Other click chemistry reactions include Diels-Alder reactions, thiol-alkene reactions, and maleimide-thiol reactions. There is a continuing need to generate improvements in tissue repair technology and advance the state of the art.